Guitar neck connection



June 3, 1969 F. c. MARSHALL 3,447,412

GUITAR NECK CONNECTION Filed Jan. 5, 1967 INVENTOR. FRED C. MARSHALL United States Patent 3,447,412 GUITAR NECK CONNECTION Fred C. Marshall, 1310 3rd St., Berkeley, Calif. 94710 Filed Jan. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 606,673

' Int. Cl. Gd N08 US. Cl. 84-267 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to electric stringed musical instruments, such as electric guitars.

It is an object of the invention to impart to electrical stringed instruments peculiar tone characteristics not previously possessed by electrical guitars and like stringed instruments.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an electric guitar or like stringed instrument emphasizing the upper partials or higher overtones of the notes produced on its strings.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide an electric guitar or like stringed instrument that may be manipulated during play to provide a peculiar rising and or falling tone modulation.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment thereof and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an electric guitar embodying my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the guitar shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective of the bridge of the guitar; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross section taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2.

In accordance with the invention I establish a resiliently flexible connection between the finger board and the part that mounts the bridge and tail plate of the guitar so that they may be flexed relative to each other during performance thus either tightening or loosening the strings. This imparts a rising or descending modulation to the performance depending upon the direction in which the parts are being flexed. Furthermore, I make the finger board of a metal plate and I cover the string-supporting and end edge of the bridge with sheet metal. I have found that this emphasizes the higher overtones of the notes produced by plucking the strings. Moreover, I omit all frets and make the top surface of the finger board underneath the strings completely smooth. With a finger board of this type the strings may be manipulated to produce a far greater number of intermediate tones or tints than obtainable with standard finger boards whose upper surface is divided by frets.

The guitar of my invention comprises a frame 10' made of a flexible material, such as a steel rod. Said frame consists of an arched base or body portion 12 from whose summit point rises a straight bar 14 (FIGURE 1). Suitably held within the arched portion 12 of the frame is a plate or board 16 which is preferably made of wood and which supports the bridge 18. Suitably clamped to the ice bar 14 is the elongated finger board 20 which may be of U-shaped cross-sectional contour (FIGURE 4) and is made of metal, such as steel. It presents a smooth upper surface 22 without frets to the strings 30. Attached to the free end of the bar 14 adjacent the far end edge of the finger board 20 is the setting 24 for the pegs 26 which may be turned by manipulation of suitably placed keys 28. The strings are anchored in these pegs and extend over a grooved nut 32 of conventional design located near the free end of the finger board 20 and over the bridge 18 on plate 16; and their opposite ends are anchored in a string holder or tail plate 34 that is suitably hooked over the free bottom edge of said plate. By manipulation of the keys 2-8 the strings 30 may be tuned to their proper tints.

The string-supporting upper end edge of the bridge 18 has a slight convexity, and its side edges are smoothly rounded as shown at 36; and the portion of said bridge which faces the finger board 20 including its summit line is covered by a lining 38 of sheet metal such that the strings make contact with said metal lining before they slant downwardly toward the tail plate 34 (FIGURE 1). The uncovered edge portion of the bridge may be provided with grooves 40 which are engaged by the downwardly slanting string portions as shown in FIGURE 3, and which hold the strings in their properly spaced positions. Mounted upon the plate 16 below the strings 30 adjacent the metal covered side of the bridge 18 is a microphone 42 which is of conventional design and is arranged to convert the vibrations of the strings 30 into electric audio signals. These signals are fed to a suitable amplifier whose performance is controlled by knobs 44 and 46 that are suitably located on the plate 16 within easy reach of the players hands.

I have found that when both the top surface of the finger board 20 against which the strings are pressed by the players hands, and the string-supporting area of the bridge 18 are metallic rather than made from wood as has been conventional practice, the strings produce tones of a peculiar character wherein the upper partials or overtones are emphasized. This gives the whole performance a pleasing and very characteristic timbre of its own. Also, by omitting the frets with which finger boards are conventionally equipped, it is now possible to produce an abundance of intermediate notes or tints which were impossible to produce on conventionally constructed guitars. Furthermore, the resiliently flexible connection between the finger board 20 and the bridge-supporting plate 16 established by the bar 14 of frame 10 makes it possible to tilt the finger board and the plate very slightly relative to each other during performance by appropriate pressure exerted by the players hands upon the finger board and the plate. In this manner the strings may be tightened and loosened as they are being played causing the tones of the production to rise or fall. This, too imparts a most characteristic quality of its own to the performance.

Iclairn:

1. An electric stringed musical instrument having a finger board and a part mounting a bridge for supporting the strings, and resiliently'yieldable means for conmeeting said board and said part for both angular and rotary displacement relative to each other.

2. An electrical musical instrument comprising a finger board, strings, a part mounting a bridge for supporting said strings, resiliently yieldable means for connecting said finger board and said part for angular and rotary displacement relative to each other, said bridge having an upper end of shallow convexity and on the side facing said finger board a metal lining covering the summit line of said upper end, and provided in said upper end on 3 4 the opposite side thereof grooves adapted to receive 3,069,954 12/ 1962 Lover et a1 84267 strings, and anchoring means at the free end of said finger 3,251,257 5/ 1966 Bunker 84-293 board and a portion of said part on the side of said bridge remote from said finger board, for holding said strings FOREIGN TE in a position wherein they pass through said grooves and 5 751,814 7/ 1956 G e Br talnare in contact with said metal lining along said summit lin thereofl RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

References Cit d L. R. FRANKLIN, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 U S Cl X R 518,869 4/1894 Toye 84-293 1,365,839 1/1921 McHughetal. "84-307 49 14 

